Packaging & printing
Product packaging and printed goods: cartons, plastic, flexible, labels, mailers and printing.
Not mandatory on the China side, but exporting to the EU brings in a core regulation that has just taken effect - and it governs the packaging itself, not only the goods inside.
What this category covers
Folding cartons, printed boxes, paper cards, roll labels and film labels.
What these goods have to clear
China
Not in the CCC catalogue - the 103-product list in the 2020 catalogue contains no entry for printed packaging.
Where it is food-contact packaging, the GB 4806 series applies: general standard GB 4806.1-2016; paper and paperboard GB 4806.8-2022; inks GB 4806.14-2023; adhesives GB 4806.15-2024; composite materials GB 4806.13-2023; plastics GB 4806.7-2023; coatings and coating layers GB 4806.10-2025.
The quarantine treatment requirements for wood packaging for export are not verified; this page does not set out specific rules.
European Union
PPWR (EU) 2025/40 is the most time-sensitive item on this page: published on 2025-01-22, in force from 2025-02-11, with the core substantive obligations applying from 2026-08-12, replacing the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive 94/62/EC after nearly thirty years. It covers all materials and all settings (industrial, commercial, consumer and transport packaging), and packaging of imported products is equally caught; recycled-content and void-space provisions are deferred and phased in after 2030, and it also touches PFAS, heavy metals and recyclability requirements.
Food-contact packaging is additionally covered by the FCM framework: the framework regulation (EC) 1935/2004; GMP (EC) 2023/2006 (as amended by (EU) 2025/351); plastics (EU) 10/2011 (with (EU) 2026/245 updating the positive list and (EU) 2026/250 amending the BPA control provisions). The BPA ban (EU) 2024/3190 has applied since January 2025, prohibiting bisphenol A and its salts in food-contact materials - if your coating or adhesive contains epoxy or bisphenol, this provision hits it directly.
United States
FDA 21 CFR Parts 174-179 (indirect food additives). Paper boxes map directly to Part 176 (paper and paperboard components); there are also Part 175 (adhesives and coatings), Part 177 (polymers) and Part 178 (adjuvants). Beyond the substances already listed in the regulations, substances may be used under an FCN (Food Contact Notification); there is also the 21 CFR 170.39 threshold-of-regulation (TOR) exemption list.
Sources and verification
Based on Announcement No. 18 of 2020 and the GB 4806 series (China side), PPWR (EU) 2025/40 and the FCM framework (EU side) and 21 CFR 174-179 (US side). Verification date 2026-09-30.
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